What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today? 2018 + 2019

[Stefan-Ionut-Marius]

Guanleming 978

Guanleming 978 - It is a Fountain Pen with a hooded nib .

Length 14 cm ,

Filling System - It is aerometric ,

Color - Stainless steel barrel and cap , with a black plastic section and with golden trims .

Nib - A fine hooded nib .

Ink - Pelikan 4001, Royal Blue .

[richardandtracy]

Jinhao 911

Not really a fair test as I've been doing electrics and bouncing all over the place. However under the same circumstances a K356 was not hard to start nor did it gurk into its cap, unlike the J911.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

[oneill]

A Jinhao 911 I got yesterday. My first new pen for nearly a year, so I thought I'd splash out & go for a really high end one - the 911.

 

Hmm. I was hoping it'd be as good as the now unavailable J321 ( https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/141747-jinhao-321-review/?p=1405059 ). I don't think it is. But not too bad. Had to fiddle with the nib & it seems to dry out fast. Just wish it was not a Fine, otherwise it'd be quite nice to use regularly.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

Hi Richard, drying out has always been a problem with Jinhao the reason is I think the convertor which causes the problem,change it or give it a good Flush out. This was the part of the pen

that users complained about most when I used to Edit the pages for Jinhao and Baoer. Trust Me.

oneill. I have been giving out the same Flush advice for years A very small amount of Amonia

with good clean water, I use distilled plus a Tiny drop of Dishwash liquid usually does the

trick.

Edited January 22, 2018 by oneill

[Dip n Scratch]

I have a lovely blue & black Jinhao X750 into which I fitted a Bock #6 EF nib. Inked it with Herbin Blue Myosotis. The 10ml of Herbin ink was only just less than the cost of the pen.

 

What do you members think of the Jinhao ink in the 'long International' ink cartridges?

The cheapest blue/black I found was some cartridges specific to the Hero #359, from which I extracted the ink with a syringe.

[JayKay3000]

I have a lovely blue & black Jinhao X750 into which I fitted a Bock #6 EF nib. Inked it with Herbin Blue Myosotis. The 10ml of Herbin ink was only just less than the cost of the pen.

 

What do you members think of the Jinhao ink in the 'long International' ink cartridges?

The cheapest blue/black I found was some cartridges specific to the Hero #359, from which I extracted the ink with a syringe.

 

Parker quink blue black isn't too bad and fairly cheap. I use parker quink ink in all pens and seems to work fairly well.

[Dip n Scratch]

When I settle on an ink colour I will probably end up buying a bottle and that will more than likely be online. There does not seem to be a reseller of Diamine anywhere near Hull.

It would be nice to patronise a real shop.

[richardandtracy]

It's quite easy to patronise a real shop.

You go in, look around and after sticking your nose in the air, say 'I suppose it might just be good enough...'.

 

OK, not quite what you meant...

 

I have never seen Diamine fountain pen ink in shops. I have seen Pelikan 4001 in an art shop, and in the same one there was a selection of Diamine draughting inks - NOT for fp's. Then in WHSmith - Parker Quink.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

[hachikomustang]

hello

 

Jinhao 159 and boaer 388.

 

Regards

[JayKay3000]

Jinhao 8802 - Fine nib. 'Woody'

 

Color is a lot darker without the flash. Dark brown rather than light brown.

 

I don't know if it's the same with all sellers, but I brought this thinking it was a medium as that's what the ad said and most say they are selling mediums. Used it a couple of days, gave positive feedback only to look at the nib a day later to realize that it's actually a fine (as the Fines are stamped F and the mediums don't seem to be stamped).

 

So I guess if buying from that certain auction site ask when buying an 8802 if it's actually a medium nibbed version they're sending you.

 

It's not a needle point fine so I just thought it was thin medium and it did write well out of the 'box' and started within two short lines so even if you do get a Fine by mistake it should write well and not scratchy.

 

Good pen overall. The only real issue from others seems that sometimes the inner plastic retainer in the cap comes out. Mine hasn't done it yet, but I've got some spare automotive 'sticks like Sh***' glue (it's actually called that) that I can use if it does.

 

Good pen overall so far.

[Dip n Scratch]

I swopped out the OE nib supplied with the Jinhao X750 because I wanted a finer line.

I also need to cure myself of the habit of pressing too hard, which I assume comes from years of ball-point pens.

As far as inks are concerned the sample is a godsend in order to see what shade pleases me.

If I want black I use Diamine Registrar's ink. If it was blue/black when wet it doesn't stay that way.

When dry it looks black to me.

The Jinhao X750 will never, get inked with that stuff. It's reserved for my Lanbitou homages to TWSBI and Lamy.

 

I like the Jinhao 'Woody'.

Edited January 28, 2018 by Dip n Scratch

[JayKay3000]

I like the Jinhao 'Woody'.

 

I'm not sure if the wood is actually wood, but it feels and looks like wood - I have not tried smelling it though.

 

----------

 

So busy talking about the 8802 I forgot to mention the x750 I was using earlier and x450 that I've been trying to decide if I should smooth the nib out a little.

 

Another pic of the 8802 (no flash, but I see the focus ended up behind, nevermind. This color is what it looks like to the normal eye)

[Mech-for-i]

yes those are actual wood

[Dip n Scratch]

I like the marble effect X450. I also actually had a X750 with the exact same colouration.

I have had a clear-out within the last month & it must have got in with those.......

 

Is it just my eyes, or is the cap and barrel of the X450 thicker than the X750?

[JayKay3000]

yes those are actual wood

 

That's good to know it's not plastic pretending to be wood.

 

Is it just my eyes, or is the cap and barrel of the X450 thicker than the X750?

 

You are correct. Shorter and thicker.

 

-----------

 

Todays pen is the Luo Shi x58e - I'm not sure that's it's exact model and I never used this brand before.

 

The pen came with a line of gold paint along the barrel and just about one of the smoothest cheap pen nibs I've used yet. It's a fine, but it really does glide. This nib is almost better than my parker 75 and my 75 is super smooth.

 

The grip really does help keep your fingers in place without being sharp. Good flow, started in half a line. Jinhao produce a very similar pen than costs a lot more.

 

I don't know what to say. I wasn't interested in this pen and it's almost one of the best writers I own now. Shocked for $2.50. I know the finish isn't perfect. I just hope more have had this good a finish on their nibs. It glides soundlessly without effort. It's how I'd expect a $100 pen to be.

[sansenri]

just before Christmas, I was surfing one of those huge chinese online shops where you can find dozens of pens and dozens of different low priced offers for the same pens, which finally confuses you to the point that you lose track of all the open tabs and just before Firefox freezes for too many open pages, you eventually click one of the buttons in despair and get any one of the offers that looks decent and stays within the 4 $ selling price, and don't really care what happens...

 

This careless method sometime yields good results...other times not, but as long as it is not abused and stays within the 4 $ limit it's ok...

Today I am using one of the Chinese pens I got with this method, which for me is a very close hit, but no sigar (although the reason is totally personal, and possibly not due to Baoer, so could be a nice pen for someone).

 

The pen is a Baoer 051.

(I can anticipate, in contrast, that for example I am a very happy user of a Baoer 388, which is an evident copy of the Parker Sonnet, and all merit to Parker for a great design, the copy is really a fine pen).

The Baoer 051 is a copy of the Monteverde Impressa, there is a useful review on FPN here by ppdiaporama

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/300899-baoer-051-review/

as always, Chinese manufacturers really can't resist temptation to copy someone else's ideas, and really do it with systematic diligence to the point that it's difficult nowadays to find a western pen (expensive or cheap that it may be) that hasn't yet been copied...

 

The Baoer 051 however really does look good and is therefore a good example of the improved manufacturing skills by Chinese pen producers.

The cap and bottom finial are chromed metal. The chrome finish is nice, smooth, without imperfections, and does look expensive.The clip has a lovely spring mechanism (Visconti like...) the barrel and section are black plastic which is shiny and feels good quality. The pen contains a decently looking converter (Lamy-similar), the nib is a steel Baoer marked nib which is a size 5 and is extremely smooth and is also extremely well behaved in terms of flow, so evidently the nib feed system is working well.

The cap is snap on, and the snap on works really well, not too loose not too tight, a huge improvement vs some previous nasty Chinese snap on caps that are simply impossible to uncap...

The weight is also very reasonable vs some previous Chinese pens, and despite the metal finial, the uncapped pen is reasonably well balanced. The cap posts but does not look very stable in place, which is no issue for me as I use all pens unposted.

 

The first flaw is evident when you unscrew the barrel, the threads are not precise and feel typically (of Chinese pens) gritty and wobbly when you unscrew. This flaw is however marginal as once the barrel is screwed on it stays in place.

The second flaw which is possibly not all due to Baoer is the step down section to barrel. The section is rather short, my fingers are all the time on the two sharply edged metal rings of the step down... ouch! I either hold the pen very close to the nib which is unnatural for me or after the step down, which is too far!

I don't have an Impressa to compare with, I have seen some pictures, the step down is there although it looks smoother on the Impressa...

 

 

 

 

 

all in all it's a nice looking pen and really does write well. The step down on the barrel with those sharp edges is really an issue for me, I cannot hold it for less than a minute without feeling discomfort, which is a pity.

Edited January 29, 2018 by sansenri

[JayKay3000]

Boar 801

 

Another smooth writer. Looks a bit like a clone of a parker vector. Writes nicer than any vector I tried.

 

 

[tropicalwitch]

Gotta love the variety of black/dark colored pens you can find!

 

I'm always switching up pens throughout the day, easy way for me to differentiate between long entries. Definitely fond of Baoer lately, especially because of how tiny they are.

Baoer 388 - shades like crazy with most of my inks, nib has a little give, writes well

Baoer 801 - is so tiny and light weight, with the littlest nib, and easy to carry around with me.

Baoer 79 - my current every day writer, just flows so well. I love that the cap screws on when posted.

Jinhao x750 - broad and wet writer, usually for writing notes/big text, surprisingly no bleed through issues though!

Jinhao x450 w/ Zebra G nib - honestly, I'm just playing around with this one a lot. It's got good flex, but temperamental like crazy atm.

 

Edited February 1, 2018 by tropicalwitch

[JayKay3000]

Been meaning to try one of these for ages.

 

Today I'm using the Boar 388, also known as the Parker Sonnet clone.

[Miaomiao]

Today, i have chosen this Jinhao bye bye lah (886 in slang).

 

Usually, something else maybe, but I considered they would feel more bulky when compared with the other pens in todays wrap...

 

I love this black. Glossy. Understated.

[Stefan-Ionut-Marius]

Yangtze - ????

Yangtze - ???? - It is a Fountain Pen with a classic nib .

Length 17 cm ,

Filling System - It is aerometric ,

Color - Black plastic Cap , Barrel and Section .

Nib - A medium classic nib .

Ink - Pelikan 4001, Royal Blue .